Hydraulic system and multipurpose control valve



Dec. 22, 1953 w. c. DoLcH 2,663,150

HYDRAULIC SYSTEM AND MULTIPURPOSE coNTRoLvALvE Filed May le, 195o s sheets-Snead A n INVENTOR. WILLIyAM o. Doldcgfx BYDQAQM ATTO RN :Ys

Dec. 22, 1953 w. c. DoLcH 2,563,150

HYDRAULIC, SYSTEM AND MULTIPURPOSE CONTROL. VALVE Filed May 16, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 'f7-m' l gu um A ""*fi 5246 44 INVENTOR.

WILLI/75M G- DOL CH BY @rfid ATTORNEYS Dec. 22, 1953 W. C. DOLCH HYDRAULIC SYSTEM AND MULTIPURPOSE CONTROL VALVE Filed May 16, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 52 7.5 E 7 A E. f 9 3 9o 90 JFT GY. /GRIP m.

h 'Z1 ADJUSTAB E 72C? "6 19 P S. RED. L

\ VALVE 17 '2o R- ao L, 25 j 2 5 56 :L 16v m l ,MULTPURPOSB CONT Ol. VBJLVFJ @14 INVENTOR. WILLIAM C. DOLGH ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 22, 1953 HYDRAULIC SYSTEM AND MULTIPURPOSE CONTROL VALVE William C. Dolch, Willoughby, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, to The New York Air Brake Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application May 16, 1950, Serial No.`162,250

4 Claims.

This invention relates to hydraulicr systems and multi-purpose valves for use therewith,` and more particularly to such systems and valves for use with industrial lift trucks similar to those known as fork trucks.

It is a generalV object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved hydraulic system and novel and Vimproved multi-purpose valves for use with such systems.

More particularly it is an object of the invention to provide a system including one or more hydraulic power elements of the ram or hoist type adapted for use with the full working pressure supplied by a relatively constant speed, constant volume pump and one or more similar power elements intended for operation at a selected lower pressure, together with manual and automatic control means comprised in a unitary structure for joint or independent control of the two types of power elements.

An important object of the invention Iresides in the construction and arrangement of a multipurpose valve unit including a manual control valve of the central by-pass type capable of delivering pumpedV liquid to power elements or permitting it to return from them to a reservoir, a selector valve which permits .pumped liquid to be delivered optionally to all power units or selectively to either those operating at reduced pressure or those operating at full pressure, together with an automatic flow control valve providing the necessary back pressure duringa releasel operation to maintain the control condition of a pressure regulating valve eifecting the reduced pressure.

Another important object of the invention consistsin the simplied arrangement of the valve housing, providing total internal communications in drilled and `cored passages between the several control valves.

Among the important features of the invention may be mentioned the exibility of control achieved by the system and arrangement ol multi-purpose valvespthe simplicity ofk piping, the elimination of duplicate function elements,

the widespread versatility .of the system and ap.

paratus tofcommercial-devices adaptable to wide fields of endeavor and the extreme `ease of operation.

Other and further objects yand features of thek invention will be more apparent to those skilled in the art upon a consideration of the accompanying drawings and following specication, wherein is disclosed aV single exemplary embodiment of ythe invention, with the understanding 2 that such changes and modifications may be made therein as fall within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In said drawings: Y Y Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the multi-purpose lcontrol valve forming a portion of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same viewed from the right of Fig. 1 and showing internal passages in dottedlines;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through theaxesA of the valve plungers and taken on the plane of line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through the control plunger axis and taken on line 4 of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section parallel to that of Fig. 4, taken through the axis of theselector valve plun-ger and on line 5 5 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic and schematic showf ing of a representative system arranged in accordance with the present invention.

The system and apparatus of the present invention were designed .primarily for what are commercially known as lift or fork trucks used in industryfor many purposes of short distance transportation, lifting, loading, unloading, stacking and the like, Such trucks take many forms dependent on the use, but in general they may be said to comprise small, self-propelled multiwheeled vehicles mounting at the front a vertical mast for guidance of alift carriage which mayv move from a position approximately at ground level toa height of six or eight feet or moreunder the action of a hydraulic cylinder which is hereinafterfreferred to as the lift cylinder. The carriage may be provided with forks which may be run under anvobject for lifting it, but whether equipped with forks or `arranged without them the carriage may also be -provided with grippers for engaging the sides of an object being lifted, either to hold. it in position on the forks or to grip it sufficiently tightly for lifting it without the use of forks. The operation of these devices is under the control of a hydraulic cylinder, hereinafter referred to as the grip cyl'- inder. Such cylinders are normally single vact'- ing, return movement being accomplished bythe weight of the carriage or load, or in the case* ci grippers, by springs.

The system and vapparatus of the present inf or simultaneous control of lift and gripper cylinders on a truck equipped with forks. It will also provide lifting control for .a truck not equipped with gripper means. A truck equipped with the system of the present invention will be capable of performing the work of several conu ventional singlepurpose trucks.

Referring now to` the drawings for a better understanding of the invention, and first to Fig. 6, there is illustrated diagrammatically` a hydraulicv system showing two single acting ram type cylinders I@ and l2 which will be referred to respec tively as grip and lift cylinders although their functions may be materially varied .from these uses. A more or less conventional hydraulic fluid supply system is associated with these cylinders and includes the relatively constant speed, constant volume pump I4 which takes liquid from reservoir I5 and delivers it under pressure to the multi-purpose valve I6. From this valve lines I'l and IB lead respectively to cylinders lil and I2. Interposed in line l1 is a pressure reducing valve which has its by-pass lineA I9 connected to the by-pass line for valve I6, which line leads back to the reservoir.

The pump, reservoir and cylinders are conventional while the pressure reducing valvemay be of any suitable type capable of continuously maintaining a lower pressure for operating the grip cylinder than is provided by the pump for operating one or more lift cylinders. lSuch a valve responds to pressure on its low side and can be preset to determine the lowered pressure which it maintains. It is preferred to use a pressure reducing valve such as shown in the -copending application of Hugh J. Stacey, Serial No. 152,209, Y

filed March 27, 1950.

The valve I6, referred to as a multi-purpose control valve, is more fully disclosed in the remaining figures of the drawing herewith. It is composed of suitable valve members arranged in a single one-piece cast metal housing having appropriate bores and cored passages and chambers therein, as will be later defined. Fig. l is a plan view, and this gives a reference plane for referring to the sections and elevations of the other views, but obviously the valve may be mounted in any desired position by means of bolts passing through the holes 23 formed therein. In the top surface are provided a pair of ports 24 and 25, and preferably the first of theseris connected to the lift cylinder and the second to the grip cylinder, and this arrangement will be used for defining the operation, but obviously a reversal of the connections will only require movement of the selector valve plunger inthe opposite direction to achieve the desired results. These ports are appropriately reinforced and threaded to receive pipe connections, as better seen in Fig. 5. On the lower side wall as viewed in Fig. l there is an inlet port 26 which receives highk pressure liquid directly :from the pump and opposite on the upper side wall is the discharge portl 2'1 from which liquid is returned to the reservoir.

The housing, which is generally rectangular in plan, elevation and end view, is drilled from end to end, forming four parallel bores, shown as 30, for the manual control plunger, 3|, for the manual selector plunger, 32, (Fig. 5) for theautomatic flow control plunger, and 33, forthe relief` valve. Bores 30, 3l and 33 terminate inlow pressure chamber 35, best seen inFigs. 3, 4 and 5, which is connected to an L-shaped extension 36, 31 opening to the reservoir port 2l and intersecting bores 39 andl 3l to dra-in ofte any-seepage 4 which may leak along the valve plungers and thus prevent the seals 45 from being put under high pressure. One additional passage 4l of L- shape connects the low pressure chamber 35 to chamber 42 which intersects the bore 35.

High pressure liquid from the pump is introduced through port 26, which enters the cored chamber 44 surrounding a portion of the bore 33, and charges passage 45 which intersects bore 33 only. To provide for venting this high pressure liquid, at times when the pump pressure becomes too great as when no liquid is used, a relief valve assembly is incorporated in bore 33 and comprises the closed end' cylindrical sleeve 45 secured in bore 33 byY the lock screw shown and accommodating at its closed end loosely fitting damper piston 4l attached by stem 48 to conical head it seating on the edge of the counterbore of the left endY of sleeve 45, which opens into the low pres sure chamber 35 as seen in Fig. 4. A suitable'helical spring 55, and its adjusting mechanism 5I, which also. serves to close. the. left end of the. bore 33, holds the valve seated below the. critical pressure. The liquid enters the relief valve chamber through ports 52 in the vwall of its sleeve. The right end of bore 33 is closed by. plug 53v and by additional plug 5.4 if desired at times when chamber 55` is connected to relief passage 37.

In bore 30 there is arranged with a close working flt the control plunger 58 havingy end lands 59 and 65. separated by groove 5l, which in the neutral position of the plunger permits flow of fluid from high pressure passage 45 to. low llres-v sure chamber 42 and back to the mainrlow pressure chamber 35 connected to the reservoir. Unfder these conditions thev pump works against minimum pressure returning liquid to the tank against only the back pressure resulting from friction in the system. In addition to the passages already defined as intersecting bore 35 the delivery passage E2* intersects. it and may be placed into cooperation with thev high pressure passage by pulling out the plunger 58. until land 60 shuts off communication between i5 and 42 and radial plunge-r passages 63 align with high pressure passage "l5, whereby liquid flows into the central chamber 64 in the plunger, lifts the check valve 65. and issues through radial ports 5S now in alignment with delivery passage B2.

When liquid is to be returned from the cylinders through delivery. passage 62 to the reservoir, plunger 58 is pushed in, but the. groove 5l is long enough to permit communication between 55' and 42, whereby the pump is not required to deliver against pressure. Ports 53 now register with delivery chamber $2 and returning liquid enters chamber 64 in the plunger, lifts the check value 65 and discharges through ports 65, now positioned in low pressure chamber 3,5., whereby the liquid is returned to the reservoir. [i conventional form of plunger centering spring I9. is arranged in chamber 35 to return. the plunger to theneutralposition whenever it is released.

Delivery chamber B2 communicates with di agonal'passage 1l, best seen in Fig. 2J which intersects bore 32. of thefiow control plunger at 13 at its left end, as best seen in Fig. 5'. Forgetting for the moment the flow control plunger, the

fluid may pass longitudinally through bore into.

chamber 14 at its right end andY travel by.A passage 15 to. chamber. 'I6l surrounding the bore 3l at its center. This bore isv also intersected by grip cylinder chamber 'l1l and "hoist cylinder" chamber 'mstraddling 1.6. and leadingrespectivelyA imports-25- and 24. The p1unger=80 in this bore 5. is extremely simple. It is of the spool type having end lands 8l and 82 and a central groove 83, which is of a length equivalent to the distance between the outer walls of chambers Tl and v'18. This plunger also passes into the low pressure chamber 35 principally for convenience in mounting its centralizing spring 85. Y

The selector plunger 80 in its neutral position,

as shown in Fig. 5, permits high pressure :Huid

delivered by the control valve plunger vt* through chamber E2, passage ll, chamber 13, ow control` plunger bore, chamber 14, passage 'l5 and chamber 'It to the center of the selector plungerbore, where it moves in two directions to actuate the lift and grip cylinders, as will be obvious from Fig. 6. If the selector plunger 80 vis pulled out.

its land 82 closes off chamber 18 and liquid is delivered only to the grip cylinder, butv if plunger 8l! is pushed in its land 8l closes oir chamber "ll and high pressure liquid is supplied only to the hoist cylinder. Obviously liquid may be released from either or both cylinders in the same manner upon a proper setting of the control valve.

The iiow control valve is shown best in Fig. 5. Its bore 32 receives a tight fitting sleeve 88 open at both ends and extending only to the chambers 'I3 and '14. This is counterbored to form a circumferential stop 89 near the left end. A tubular plunger is slidably mounted in the cylinder 88 and has its left end reduced somewhat in diameter and provided with a taper to cooperate with the stop 39 under the action of its helical spring Bil positioned by cap 9! closing the right end of the bore 32. At the opposite end a plug 92 closes the bore and is internally threaded to pass a threaded rod having the cylindrical inner portion 93 terminated by a conical tip 94 adjustable in and out toward the through bore 95 in the plunger 9G. Since the plunger always stops against stop 89 under the action of spring 90', adjustment of the conical tip 94 in and out determines the rate of flow through the flow control plunger, but only from 14 toward 13. Flow in the opposite direction, if greater than can be accommodated by the normal opening between tip 94 and bore 95, serves to compress the spring 99 to open the passage until it will accommodate as much liquid as will the bore 95. This valve is thus in a sense a partially closing check valve.

For a full understanding of the operation of the system and the multi-purpose valve, reference should be had again to Fig. 6. If it is assumed that the lift cylinder expands, for instance, to lift a fork on a conventional fork truck and the gripper cylinder expands to actuate grippers for holding the load on the forks, and it is assumed thatY much more eiTort is required to lift than to grip, it will be seen that some means must be provided to reduce the pressure supplied to the grip cylinder so that the grippers will not crush the goods onthe fork when adequate pressure is applied for the lifting. This function is performed by pressure reducing valve 2i which regulates the pressure of liquid discharged from it so that high pressure supplied by the pump reaches only the lift cylinder when the valve plungers are in the appropriate positions. The maximum pressure ever reaching the grip cylinder is that permitted by the presetting of the reducing valve.

Considering now the system in Fig. 6, with the pump in operation and both valve plungers in neutral position, liquid enters at 26 into chamber 44, into passage 45 and into bore 30, Where by way of the undercut 6| it enters chamber 42,

6 passage 4| and is returned to the reservoirv through port l21. If plunger 58 is now pulled out, high pressure liquid can no longer reach chamber 42 because of land 60. Ports 53 align with 45 and ports 66 with chamber 52. LiquidV thus lifts check plunger 65, passes into delivery passage 62, follows diagonal'passage il to chamber 13 at the left end of the flow control plunger bore. Here it passes by point 94 through bore 95 into chamber 14, through passage 'l5 to chamber 16, through groove 83 in plunger 8b to chambers 'll and 'i8 and to the grip and hoist cylinders respectively. Liquid owing to the grip cylinder must first pass the pressure reducing valve 2| and be reduced to a safe pressure. If the regulating screw in the ow control valve is set to a nearly closed position, this restriction may cause the flow control plunger to move toward the right to allow unrestricted iiow. Both cylinders are actuated and the load is gripped and lifted. If at the end of the above operation the control plunger 53 is pushed in, liquid from the pump is by-passed through channel El but delivery passage 62 is connected to low pressure chamber 35 via radial ports 63, plunger bore 64 and radial ports 56. Liquid then begins to return from the lift cylinder to the reservoir, but the gripper cylinder does not let go because of the action of the flow control valve, which is Ynow closed to its minimum opening and provides a liquid pressure, resulting from the Weight on the truck forks, which is greater than that for which the pressure regulating valve 2l is set. Under these conditions this valve remains set to hold the pressure on the grip cylinder. Only when the fork reaches the bottom of its travel and no liquid pressure results from holding up its load does the pressure reduce sufficiently so that the grip cylinder releases and the load can be removed.

When the grip means is also used as the load supporting means, in the absence of the customary forks, a slightly different mode of operation is advisable. The lift cylinder and the grip cylinder must be capable of independent operation as well as simultaneous operation. Thus if the` selector plunger is pulled out and then the manual control plunger operated as previously noted, only the grip cylinder will be energized. Similarly if the selector plunger is pushed in only the lift cylinder will be operated and the carriage can be elevated empty for gripping a load from the top of the pile.

When the grip-ping means are also the load supporting means more pressure may be required to operate the grippers than is required to raise the lift cylinder when -no load is being raised. Hence the usual method of raising the lift cylinder (say only part way) is to push in the selector valve plunger and then pull out the control valve plunger so that the lift cylinder is actuated While the grip cylinder remains inoperative. With the selector plunger pushed in and the other plunger pushed in the lift cylinder will be released for lowering while the grip cylinder remains inactive. Similarly with the selector valve pulled out the grip cylinder will operate when the control plunger is pulled out and be retracted when it is pushed in, under the action of a spring or the like, while the lift cylinder remains inactive.

To lift a load when no forks are used, the grippers are centered about the object to be lifted, the selector plunger pulled out and the control plunger pulled out, allowing liquid to expand the grip cylinder and engage the gripping means with 7 the load. On release of the selector plunger it re,.- turns to neutral to allow the activating liquid to. expand the lift cylinder. The pressure reducing valve prevents excess' gripping pressure which might damage the load.

t will be seen from the several examples given above that the operator has available by the proper sequential o erationof the two plungers. means for performing any of the operations of which several different types of trucks are nor.- mally capable so that the system is truly a uni.- versal one. The system is in many respects su yperior to so-called fully automatic systems', since the operator retains a sense of feel and thus able to predict what is going to happen when theV control plungers are moved.

I claim:

l. In a hydraulic lift, the combination of av single-acting expansible-chamber lit motor suited to operation under high hydraulic pressure, and controllable in lowering by regulating discharge flow therefrom; a single-acting expansible-chaniber accessory motor adapted to operate under a lower hydraulic pressure; means defining a main path for hydraulic liquid; means defining branch paths leading from said main path to respective ones of said motors; a pressurereducing valve interposed in the branch path leading to the accessory motor and serving tov limit the hydraulic pressure which can be developed in the accessory motor; an asymmetric flow valve device interposed in said main path and arranged to permit substantially free flow toward said branches but to restrict ilow in the reverse direction; and controllable means for supplying hydraulic pressure-liquid to said main path and for exhausting it therefrom.

2. In a hydraulic lift, the combination of a single-acting expansible-chamber lift motor suited to operation under high hydraulic pressure, and controllable in lowering cy regulating discharge iiow therefrom; a single-acting expansible-chamber accessory motor adapted to operate under a lower hydraulic pressure; means dening a main path for hydraulic liquid; means defining branch paths leading from said main path to respective ones of said motors; a pressurereducing valve interposed in the branch path leading to the accessory motor and serving to limit the hydraulic pressure which can be developed in the accessory motor; an asymmetric now valve device interposed in said main path and arranged to permit substantially free flow toward said branches but to restrict flow in the reverse direction; controllable means for supplying hydraulic pressure-liquid to said main path and for exhausting it therefrom; and means for adjusting at least the bacilow rate of the asymmetric f'lcw valve, whereby the back-pressure maintained thereby during lowering of the lift motor may be coordinated with the reduced pressure established by the reducing Valve.

3f. In a. hydraulic lift, the combination of a single-acting eXpansible-chamber lift motor suited to operation under highhydraulic pressure, and controllable in lowering by regulating discharge now therefrom; a single-acting expansble-chamber accessory motor adapted to operate under a lower hydraulic pressure; means defining a main path for hydraulic liquid; means dening branch paths leading from said main path to respective ones of said motors; a pressurereducing valve interposed in the branch path leading to the accessory motor and serving to limit the hydraulic pressure which can 'oe developed in the accessory motor; an asymmetric ilow valve device interposed in said kmain path and arranged to permit substantially free now toward said branches but to restrict flow in the reverse direction; controllable means for supplying hydraulic pressure-liquid to said main path and for exhausting it therefrom; means for adjusting the backiiow rate of the asymmetric flow valve; and means for adjusting the pressure-reducing valve to pre-determine the reduced pressure which it maintains.

Ll. In a hydraulic liit, the combination of a, single-acting expansible-charnber lift motor suited to operation un .er high hydraulic pressure, and controllable in, lowering by regulating discharge flow therefrom; a single-acting expansible-chamber accessory motor adapted to opcrate under a lower hydraulic pressure; means defining a ina-in path for hydraulic liquid; means deiining branch paths leading to respective motors; a pressure-reducing vali-fe interposed in the branch path leading to the accessory motor, and serving to limit. the hydraulic pressure which can be developed in thev accessory motor; selector valve means interposed between the main path and the branch paths and operable to connect both branch paths to the main path, and alternatively to connect Veither branch path with the main path while obstructing the other branch path to lock hydraulically the corresponding vmotor; an asymmetric flow valve interposed in said main path and arranged to permit substantially free new toward said branches out to restrict flow in the reverse direction; and controllable means for supplying hydraulic pressureliquid to said main path and for exhausting it therefrom.

WILLIAM C. DOLCE.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS ...v-em, 

